Today, Microsoft announced a partnership with
technology industry leaders and academia to implement
a global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup)
worm.

Together with security researchers, Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and
operators within the Domain Name System, Microsoft
coordinated a response designed to disable domains
targeted by Conficker. Microsoft also announced a
$250,000 reward for information that results in the
arrest and conviction of those responsible for
illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on
the Internet.

"As part of Microsoft?s ongoing security efforts, we
constantly look for ways to use a diverse set of tools
and develop methodologies to protect our customers,"
said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of the
Trustworthy Computing Group at Microsoft. "By
combining our expertise with that of the broader
community we can expand the boundaries of defense to
better protect people worldwide."